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You are cordially invited to participate in the Dutch Schools Debating Championships 2012, which will be held on the 24th of March. The DSDC is an annual debating tournament where secondary school students compete to become the best English speaking debaters in The Netherlands. More importantly, it is where we select the students who will represent The Netherlands at the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) 2013!

Every student participating in the DSDC, who is in the fourth or fifth form of secondary school, has a shot at participating in the WSDC 2013 in Antalya, Turkey, on behalf of the official Dutch Team.

Because only students in the fourth and fifth grade are eligible to participate in the WSDC 2013, we urge schools to send students from these forms. Students from the sixth form are allowed and eligible to win the tournament, but not to be selected for the WSDC.

We fully understand that some of your students are new at parliamentary debating. That is why we will be offering a complimentary workshop in the morning, where we will explain the rules of debate and teach the students essential skills to persuade the jury! The workshop will be held on the same day of the tournament and will be provided by our Chief Adjudication panel, which is spearheaded by Europe’s top university debater of 2010 Jeroen Heun.

The DSDC is a foundation run by and for young people. Most of the members of our organization are former WSDC-participants and many of us are still vigorously debating at university. We have a passion for debate. That’s why all of our revenues are used for sending school students to international tournaments such as the WSDC. Since we are a not-for-profit organization, participation costs only €99 for the first team, including the workshop. Schools are allowed and encouraged to send more than 1 team and every second and third team will only pay €75. Each team consists of three debaters and a guide (teacher).

Debating encourages students to present themselves well to an audience, persuade others and think critically. We believe that the DSDC 2012 will contribute to the development of these invaluable skills in all participants. Therefore we hope to welcome you at the Utrechts Stedelijk Gymnasium on the 24th of March! For more information about our organization and our tournament, please visit our website or contact me directly by e-mail or over the phone (see below)!

About Us

The International Debate Education Association (IDEA) is a global network of organizations that value debate as a way to give young people a voice, with entities in the Netherlands, USA, UK, Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan and Tunisia.